How do you personalize your cell phone?

Every person has his or her own personal taste when it comes to hobbies, design, likes, dislikes, and so forth. Many of us show our personalities and who we are through different methods every day. This includes methods like how we style our hair, how we dress every day, how we speak, what activities we participate in, and specifically speaking, the customization of our beloved gadgets.

One of my favorite things to do in my spare time (however lame it might be) is to personalize the way my cell phone looks. Simple things like adding a case can turn a phone that looks just like everybody else’s into something that is easy for me to recognize. Sometimes just adding a case can make my phone seem like a whole new phone. It isn’t too often that you see a smartphone that comes in more colors than just your standard black and white (and I only specify smartphones because I still see quite a few messaging and flip phones come out in a variety of colors). Although, lately I have been seeing newer models (such as the Samsung Galaxy S III and the Nokia Lumia 900) come out with a variety of colors. Still, for those that want or own phones that only come in one or two plain colors, most will have a variety of cases to choose from to help it stick out amongst millions of other same-colored phones.

Some people, however, like the way a phone looks outside of a case and choose to personalize their phones in other ways. You’ll get more or less options for personalization depending on what type of OS your phone has. For example, you’ll be able to have more flexibility with an Android phone than you would with an iPhone, since Android has options for widgets, photo frames, etc. If there’s one thing I miss about having an Android phone, it’s the fact that I could personalize just about anything. For now I will just have to stick with just wallpaper and ringtones (and I only the get the ringtone option because I decided to jailbreak, so even that’s not normal with an iPhone).

You can also choose to elaborate on another level of custom design if you choose to take the route of rooting or jailbreaking. You’re still going to get more options when you’re dealing with an Android, but you can do some pretty cool things with your iPhone as well. I would only recommend rooting/jailbreaking after doing some research, though, since you may or may not be breaking a warranty if you have one, and it’s very easy for bad things to happen to you phone if you edit the wrong thing. The world of rooting and jailbreaking can be both wonderful and horrifically scary.

Our phones are capable of so much more personalization options now than they had even just a few short years ago (unless you had an iPhone, then it’s about the same). The reason I enjoy customizing mine so much is because I spend so much time on it, it’s almost like a second room. A virtual room, mind you, but a room. The reason I bring this up is because I was just changing my wallpaper and ringtones to match up with Halloween coming up, which happens to be my third favorite holiday, and wondered if other people enjoyed customizing their phone as much as I did.

So my question to you, PhoneDog fans, is how do you customize your phones? Or do you like to keep it simple and business-like? Let me know in your comments!

PHONEDOG

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